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WELLSBURG -- A Wellsburg man faces 25 to 75 years in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of incest Friday in the 1st Judicial Circuit Court.
Brooke County Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Barki said David Michael Hill, 46, of Wellsburg will serve a minimum of 25 years before he can be considered for parole after entering a plea agreement through which 10 other counts against him were dismissed.
Hill had also been indicted by a Brooke County grand jury on five counts each of second-degree sexual assault and sexual abuse by a custodian.
Thomas Kroger, Hill's attorney, noted that had those charges not been dropped, his client could have been sentenced to100 to 200 years of incarceration.
First Judicial Circuit Court Judge Ronald Wilson commented that while the charges against Hill were quite serious, the sentence seemed harsh.
"At his age, he may never see daylight again," said Wilson, who also asked if the plea agreement was supported by the victim and the investigating officer from the Brooke County Sheriff's Department.
Barki confirmed it was.
The prosecutor said during a two-year period, Hill sexually assaulted a minor related to him "multiple times in a week" until she was old enough to no longer be in his care.
Hill is slated to appear for sentencing on July 20.
Wilson advised him that in the event he should be granted parole, he will be required to register as a sexual offender and comply with conditions limiting where he may live and with whom he may have contact.
When asked by the judge if he had been treated for mental illness, a customary question in such hearings, Hill said he had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was taking medication for his condition.
Hill's attorney advised he may file a motion seeking a reduced sentence, which Barki said he will oppose.
Also on Friday, Vernon Jackson, 39, of Mingo Junction was sentenced to a year of probation and ordered to pay about $1,013 in restitution to a telephone company in connection with the theft in Jefferson County of copper wire he and another man sold for scrap in Brooke County in 2012.
When Jackson stated he had been sentenced for the crime in Ohio, Assistant Brooke County Prosecutor David F. Cross clarified that it was the charge of transporting stolen property into West Virginia that he faced on Friday.
Cross said Jackson had been arrested on a fugitive from justice charge from Jefferson County, where he faces misdemeanor charges for an unrelated incident, when the outstanding charge of transporting stolen property was discovered.
(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)